Women, Drug Policy, and Incarceration: A Guide for Policy Reform in Latin America and the Caribbean

The working group has published a new guide for policymakers: “Women, Drug Policies, and Incarceration: A Guide to Policy Reform in Latin America and the Caribbean.” The guide—the first of its kind—offers a roadmap for officials and reform advocates for implementing policy changes that could benefit the thousands of women incarcerated on drug charges across the Americas. Reforms include the decriminalization of drug consumption and the use of alternatives to incarceration—particularly for pregnant women and women with dependents—as well as education and training programs that can lead to meaningful employment. The project also seeks to shed light on how the poorest, most vulnerable members of society bear the brunt of unjust drug policies. By telling the stories of those incarcerated for drug-related crimes, the researchers seek to show the human cost of current punitive policies and promote understanding of the situations that drive these women to participate in the drug trade.

Drug policy in Colombia has focused its efforts on pursuing and imprisoning the weak links of the drug trafficking chain: people who are poor and occupy positions of vulnerability in society. This guide makes a diagnosis of the situation of women related to drug crimes in Colombia, the impact of incarceration on their lives and their families, and develops policy recommendations to reform these punitive policies.